Provides for a new class of regulated fishing lake H.B. 581 Rep. DeWeese PFBC, DCNR & DEP would be allowed to enter into agreements w/federal agencies, state agencies and other state governments to assess, restore and protect water quality of interstate watersheds. H.B. 594 Rep. Egolf Amends Vehicle Code to change limit for driving under the influence. HB 1721 and SB 709 are similar. Legislation to lower blood alcohol limit for driving under the influence from 0.10% to 0.08% should also include conforming amendment to boating under the influence provision. H.B. 1019 Rep. Lynch Allows a person with a disability as defined by the Social Security Administration to obtain a free fishing/hunting license. H.B. 1024 Rep. Lynch Authorizes a one-day tourist license @ $5.25. H.B. 1288 Rep. Hasay Removal of Commissioner (notice/hearing) and permits two (2) five (5) year terms.

H.B. 1702 Rep. Wilt Fee waiver for portable fishing ponds operated by a non-profit organization. This bill passed the State House of Represenatives on November 19, 2002. It now goes to the Senate. H.B. 1797

Rep. Daley License fee reduction (PFBC-40% & PGC-25%) for disabled persons. H.B. 1828 Rep. Lynch Extends certain disability benefits to waterways conservation officers and wildlife conservation officers. H.B. 1987

Rep. Major Changes fishing license exemption for certain privately owned stocked lakes/ponds of five (5) acres or less in size. PFBC would like to see this amended to provide for written permission. H.B. 2246 Rep. Lynch

Wildlife Violator Compact: revocation for unsatisfied/serious offenses in another state. H.B. 2485 Rep. Marsico

Boat registration fee reduction (50%) and annual renewal cycle for senior citizens.

Fish and Boat Commission Capital Budget Act for 2002 - 2003

Senate Bill 1242

Update Governor Mark Schweiker signed Senate Bill 1242 into law as Act 208 of 2002 on December 9, 2002. This enactment includes the Fish and Boat Commission's top priority capital projects and provides that they may be paid for by incurring debt or from current revenues. On November 27, 2002, the Pennsylvania Senate concurred in House amendments to Senate Bill 1242 sending it to Governor Schweiker. The vote was 48 to 0. The Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed the Fish and Boat Commission Capital Budget Act for 2002 - 2003 by a vote of 197-0 on November 25, 2002. An amendment was placed on the bill (Senate Bill 1242) to add a project for Canonsburg Lake (Washington County). Senate Bill 1242 was reported out of the House Appropriations Committee with an amendment to add a project for removal of Charming Forge Dam (Berks County). Current Legislation: Senate Bill 1242 was introduced in the State Senate on December 2001. This bill originally contained capital project authorization for Pennsylvania Game Commission projects. On November 13, 2002, the bill was amended by the House Game and Fisheries Committee to convert it into the "Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission Capital Budget Act for 2002 - 2003.^"Projects: Senate Bill 1242 authorizes the PFBC's capital projects to be funded by incurring debt or from operating funds. Section 3 of the bill itemizes eighteen PFBC projects with a total cost of about $54.5 million. All the projects must be released for design within four years of enactment of the bill or they are repealed unless extended for up to one year by the Secretary of the Budget. The bill also repeals provisions of Act 131 of 2002 that relate to PFBC capital projects.

PFBC Position: Senate Bill 1242 contains the PFBC's priority hatchery projects. Although it contains several projects that have not been prioritized by the Commission, its enactment will enable the agency to move forward with the most important efforts to upgrade Pennsylvania state hatcheries. Background: A capital budget act is the means by which the General Assembly authorizes state agencies to undertake major acquisition, construction and development projects. All projects with an estimated cost in excess of $300,000 (each) must be approved by General Assembly and the Governor as part of a capital budget. The Governor lists projects for consideration in the capital budget when he submits his state budget message in February. These projects, with changes sought by the Administration or members of the General Assembly, are then incorporated into a bill.

Senate Bill 1242 restores funding authorization for PFBC capital projects contained in Act 131 (Senate Bill 1213) . On October 30, Governor Mark Schweiker signed Senate Bill 1213 into law exercising his line-item veto to strike the provision creating a new funding mechanism for PFBC capital projects. An amendment approved by the House, and concurred in by the Senate in early October 2002, provided that the Fish and Boat Commission projects itemized in Section 10 of the bill would be financed by incurring debt repaid from the General Fund, and this was stricken from the bill.

Mandatory Education for Certain Boaters

Senate Bill 463

STATUS: On December 9, 2002, Governor Mark Schweiker signed Senate Bill 463 into law as Act 199 of 2002.

At about 10 p.m. on Wednesday, November 27, the Senate concurred in the House amendments to Senate Bill 463 and sent the bill to the Governor. The vote was 47 to 1. Earlier, at about 5 p.m. on November 27, the House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 463 by a vote of 170 to 24. The House added an amendment to the bill on the definition of passenger-carrying boats.

The House Game and Fisheries Committee approved Senate Bill 463 on November 25, 2002. The Pennsylvania Senate approved Senate Bill 463 by a 48-1 vote on November 20, 2002. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved Senate Bill 463 on November 19, 2002. The Senate Game and Fisheries Committee approved Senate Bill 463, with amendments, at its meeting on November 12, 2002. Background: Senate Bill 463, sponsored by Senator Richard Kasunic with broad bipartisan support, provides that on or after January 1, 2003, it will be illegal for a person born on or after January 1, 1982, to operate certain motorboat unless the person completes a boating safety course and receives a boating safety certificate. PFBC Position: The Fish and Boat Commission supported enactment of legislation to provide for mandatory boating safety education for operators of motorboats. Senate Bill 463 represents a major step forward in seeking to ensure that operators of motorboats have completed a basic boating safety course and have a sound familiarity with the rules of the road of boating and safe boating practices. The PFBC endorsed this legislation. According to Peter A. Colangelo, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, "Pennsylvania boaters have something extra to be thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend. The actions of the General Assembly in approving Senate Bill 463, which provides for a new mandatory boating education program, means that our waterways will be safer and our boaters better informed. I want to give special thanks to Senator Rich Kasunic for his hard work on this bill. Senator Kasunic has introduced similar legislation at least three times before but it never won final approval by both houses of the General Assembly. But Senator Kasunic just would not give up his efforts to improve boating education in Pennsylvania. With the help of Senator Ed Helfrick and leaders of the House and Senate, this time the bill passed and is on its way to the Governor. Senator Kasunic has launched us toward to goal of expanded boating safety education in Pennsylvania," Colangelo concluded. Major Provisions: If signed into law by Governor Schweiker, Senate Bill 463 will expand and improve Pennsylvania's boating safety education programs. It provides that persons born on or after January 1, 1982 shall not operate certain motorboats on Pennsylvania waters without first obtaining a boating safety education certificate. The bill contains exemptions for non-resident visitors, landowners operating boats on their own ponds which lack public access, and operators of motorboats powered by electric motors or motors of 25 hp or less. It provides for various courses of instruction. Boating safety certificates, good for a lifetime, will carry a $10 fee. Frequently Asked Questions about Pennsylvania's new boating safety education bill.

Q. When will SB 463 take effect?

A. If signed into law by Governor Schweiker, it will take effect 60 days after he signs it. This means that the new requirements will be effective for the 2003 boating season in Pennsylvania.

Q. Who will have to take a boating course once this bill takes effect?

A. Persons born on or after January 1, 1982 will need to have completed a boating safety education course and obtain a boating safety education certificate in order to operate a boat propelled by internal combustion motor of greater than 25 horsepower.

Q. How does this affect the existing requirement for operators of personal watercraft to have boating safety certificates?

A. Existing regulations requiring anyone who operates a personal watercraft, such as a Jet SkiŽ, remain in effect. Persons born before January 1, 1982 will still need to complete a boating course and obtain a boating safety certificate to operate a Jet SkiŽ or similar device.

Q. Who is exempt from the new requirements?

A. Certain residents of other states, landowners and their families operating motorboats on private ponds on their properties, and persons operating unpowered boats, boats powered by electric motors and boats powered by an internal combustion motor of 25 horsepower or less. In addition, the Commission may, by regulation, exempt others from these requirements.

Q. What about rental boats?

A. The law contains no express exemption for operators of boats rented from boat liveries. The Commission has already received suggestions that this is an area that should be addressed by regulation (as it has been for personal watercraft).

Q. Where can I get a boating course?

A. It's easier than ever to take a boating course and obtain a boating safety education certificate. Courses are available on-line from the Commission's web site and through video home study programs. In addition, the Commission and many other organizations offer boating safety courses. The winter months are the often best time to take these courses.

Q. What are the fees for boating safety certificates and when do they take effect?

A. The fee is $10 for a boating safety certificate (good for a lifetime). If Governor Schweiker signs this bill into law, this fee will take effect 60 days later. The bill also provides for a $5 fee for replacement certificates. The Commission already has a $5 administrative processing charge for replacement certificates, so this fee will not change.

Q. I already have taken a boating course and earned a boating safety education certificate. Does this bill mean I need to get a new certificate?

A. No. Certificates issued prior to the effective date of this legislation remain valid for the holders' lifetimes. Since 1999, the Fish and Boat Commission has issued over 100,000 boating safety education certificates to Pennsylvania boaters.

Q. What's the fine for a violation of the boating safety certificate requirement?

A. After the bill takes effect (if signed into law by the Governor), a violation will be a summary offense of the second degree under the Fish and Boat Code, which carries a $100 fine.

PWD Funds PCB Reduction Plan

The Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) has received a check for $19,000 from the Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) to be used to help develop a plan to reduce the amount of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) entering the tidal Delaware River. The goal is to meet the river's water quality standards and thus eliminate the need for fish consumption advisories which have been in place for over a decade. "The $19,000 was part of a larger $70,000 fine that the city collected against an industry for improperly disposing of its PCBs. In 1999, the city had used part of the fine it collected to fund a seminar for businesses on proper PCB disposal. Giving this money to the DRBC was the best use of these funds, as the only way we'll be able to address the PCB problem is through a comprehensive understanding of all the sources of PCBs, and working in partnership with all concerned," stated David Katz, Deputy Water Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia. "The water department's contribution exemplifies the type of partnership between stakeholders and regulators that is essential if we are to achieve our shared goal of improving water quality in the Delaware Estuary," noted Carol R. Collier, the DRBC's Executive Director. The plan to reduce PCB levels will be crafted by a commission-authorized TMDL Implementation Advisory Committee. The committee will be composed of approximately 20 representatives from industry, municipalities, environmental organizations, fish and wildlife interests, regulators, and others. TMDLs (total maximum daily loads) set the quantity of a pollutant that can enter a water body daily without violating the water quality standards or triggering fish consumption advisories.

Once a TMDL number is determined, decisions will have to be made on how that new, lower loading benchmark can be met.It will require an analysis of inputs from tributary streams feeding the Delaware River, storm water runoff, point sources (end-of-pipe discharges), air deposition, and riverbed sediments, followed by the development of PCB reduction plans. The existing water quality regulations, which took effect in 1997, set uniform standards for PCBs and other toxic pollutants for the 85-mile reach of the river from the head of tide at Trenton, N.J., downstream to the Delaware Bay, including tidal portions of tributary streams. The standards are designed to address the effects of acute and chronic toxicity to aquatic life, and the potential for harmful effects on humans through ingestion of untreated river water and/or the consumption of resident fish and shellfish. The highest concentration of PCBs occurs in a 14-mile, heavily urbanized portion of the river between the old Philadelphia Navy Yard upstream to the Tacony - Palmyra Bridge. In 1989, fish consumption advisories were issued for striped bass, white perch, and catfish by the states of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and later Delaware because of the presence of PCBs and chlorinated pesticides in fish tissue samples. The advisories were prompted by studies conducted by the DRBC and state agencies. Yet in spite of the advisories, overall water quality in the river has improved significantly in recent years, based on a sharp increase in fish populations.

According to a 1998 report issued by the DRBC, fisheries on the rebound include American shad, weakfish, striped bass, Atlantic croaker, Atlantic silversides, bay anchovy, black drum, hogchoker, northern kingfish and American eel. On the downside, Atlantic sturgeon populations appear to be on the decline, as do the number of horseshoe crabs in Delaware Bay. The Delaware River Basin Commission is a federal/interstate agency responsible for managing the water resources within the 13,539 square-mile watershed. Its members are the governors of the four basin states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) and a federal representative appointed by the President.